


What I Wish I'd Known

by StegesaurusKay



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angst and Feels, Arguing, Canon Era, Gen, Indentured Servant, Misunderstandings, Washingdad, mild whump, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29548992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StegesaurusKay/pseuds/StegesaurusKay
Summary: Washington makes the split second decision to claim Alexander as his son to avoid seeing him dragged off to a worse fate. Alexander is not at all pleased.
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton & George Washington
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	What I Wish I'd Known

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I wrote this fic for Febuwhump 2021 with the prompt "I'm sorry. I didn't know." It turned out not to be really whump, but more angst, and I'm happy enough with it to post it here.

Silence settles over the camp after the General’s outburst. Despite the driving wind and rain, everyone within earshot stands utterly frozen in place, staring either at Washington or the boy barely left standing on his feet. 

_ Stop! Leave him alone! Alexander is my son, my child. Whatever the cost of his bond, I’ll pay it twice over! _

The two men, hired thugs really, exchange looks, and then look to the well dressed stranger for instruction. They’ve already beaten Hamilton half to hell- he must at least have broken ribs in the struggle.

Washington steps forward as lightning flashes across the sky. He’s furious. At these men. The ones that hurt the boy. The one that tried to  _ claim _ Alexander. 

When he’s within arm’s length of Alexander he stops, glowers darkly at the wealthy man. “The funds will be sent to you. Now get the hell out of my camp. All of you.”

The man doesn’t speak. He’s been stunned into silence since Washington’s appearance. He nods to his men, and within a minute all three are inside the carriage and on the way out of camp.

The storm overhead continues to rumble, but Washington stands still as stone.

Or at least, he does, until Alexander’s knees buckle. The boy drops like a stone and Washington has to wrap both arms around him to keep him upright. He barks orders without thought, ordering men back to work, call a surgeon. 

Men move instantly, and Washington scoops Alexander into his arms, ignores the grunts of protest, and carries him inside.

He could have lost him. Here and now that man could have taken Alexander away, forced into five more years of servitude that he might not even survive. An indentured bond. The stranger had a signed contract- Alexander’s name, his own writing.

_ Why? _

“Lemme go,” Alexander groans, still secured in his grip. He shifts, hisses in pain, and then tries to move again. Washington has to put him down or risk dropping him. 

Alexander immediately stumbles away, catching himself against a nearby work table. Other than the two of them, the room is empty. The boy’s breaths are harsh and short. He curls in on himself, pressing a hand against his lower left side. Washington stepped outside just in time to see one of the men plant his foot against those ribs. He’s not sure how Alexander is even on his feet.

“We need to- my boy, we ought to talk about-”

“I don’t  _ want _ to talk!” Alexander snaps. He winces, but conceals it a beat later before he turns his back to Washington.

He should tell the boy he understands. Alexander has never spoken outright to Washington about it, but he’s heard bits and pieces of where he came from. What ambitious boy wouldn’t trade anything to get away from the hell he grew up in? Even his own freedom.

“About the bond, my boy, I think no less of you for-”

“That’s  _ not _ it,” Alexander fixes him a sharp look, fury fully masking the pain in his eyes now.

“Then  _ what-” _

“You had no right!”

“What?”

“You’ve taken away any chance for me to make my own mark, be respected on my own merit. They’ll only see me as  _ yours!  _ You had no right to claim me as your son!”

Washington stares at him, stunned momentarily into silence. Alexander’s knees give again, but this time he manages to settle himself onto the bench next to the table. His shoulders slump, he’s still breathing quickly, harshly. He looks up again, dark eyes fixing on his.

Fury, pain, grief.

“You’ve no right to make yourself my father-”

“Alexander-”

“While my real one still lives and breathes!”

Now Washington freezes, staring at the boy. For a full minute he says nothing, and neither does Alexander, fixing his dark gaze on the floorboards. The general had always assumed the boy was an orphan, given where he came from. He’s never mentioned family. Washington thought himself polite in never bringing it up.

Perhaps he should have.

“I’m sorry,” He finds his voice at last. “I didn’t know.” 

Alexander looks at him for a short moment, then back at the floor.

“I know.”

The door opens then, and the surgeon enters. Washington steps back with a quiet order for him to see Alexander to his own quarters, and then he leaves them be.

He walks away, feet heavy. He’s ruined something he’ll never be able to fix. Half the camp heard him claim the boy, and the other half is bound to know shortly. 

Once the dust settles there may not be a light at the end of the tunnel. Alexander may never forgive him.

And they’ll both have to live with it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! I might one day go back and expand on this super-short story. We shall see.
> 
> In the meantime I have tons of Hamilton fics on my tumblr [over here- StegeKay](https://stegekay.tumblr.com/). I love talking Hamilton, getting prompts, and answering asks about my stories.


End file.
